


Picnic Date

by LadyNikita



Series: The Arcana One-Shots [3]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Bad Cooking, Fluff, I could ramble for hours how much i love her, I hope I'm at least a bit funny, I love one (1) squeezy noodle, Lighthearted, M/M, Picnics, Priorities, Stargazing, also asrian I Guess, honestly she's the best snake in the whole world, watermelon cheesecake is a Bad Idea, watermelon mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:21:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25997452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyNikita/pseuds/LadyNikita
Summary: Asra and Julian go on a picnic date but they have a heated argument over whether or not watermelon is valid. Bad cooking decisions, Faust is the best girl in the whole wide world and Julian and Asra Might have some feelings for each other.
Relationships: Asra/Julian Devorak
Series: The Arcana One-Shots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1883533
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	Picnic Date

**Author's Note:**

  * For [goat_princess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/goat_princess/gifts).



> The idea was originally @muertina on Tumblr, I just expanded on it a bit. Really hope you like it!!  
> (also i might write another chapter for this because i like this au that i created where there was no plague (yet?) in the past so maybe it will appear if i will feel like it)
> 
> (If you have any more ideas for those two, hit me up @queerunicorn on Tumblr!)

“For the last time, Ilya, we’re not bringing this disgusting fruit on our date,” Asra’s frustrated yet coloured with playfulness voice rang in the empty evening gardens as he looked at a plate before him with disgust. Julian was staring at him with outrage as Portia, sitting on the other side of the table, looked like she was having the time of her life.  
“Why not?!” Julian dramatically threw his arms in the air. “We have to! Watermelon is _the_ summer picnic fruit, Asra, there’s no picnic date without watermelon and I will _die_ on this hill.”  
“I’m afraid he’s not joking on that one,” Portia laughed and leaned forward. “He once risked his life trying to get these spices for Lilinka’s birthday by attacking a pirate fleet on open freaking sea!”  
Faust raised her head from Asra’s shoulder and looked at Portia with eyes wide-open.  
_Danger?_ She tilted her head. _Ilya silly._  
“Yes, my dear, you’re right,” Asra nodded, glancing at her with a smile. “Ilya _is_ silly.”  
“I beg your pardon?” Julian looked at her, betrayed, shoving a slice of watermelon in his mouth.  
“Then beg,” Asra chuckled flippantly and Julian raised his eyebrows.  
“Maybe I will,” he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms on his chest.  
“Okay! I don’t like where this is going!” Portia waved her hands. “You two either behave or get a room, okay?”  
“Fine! Fine,” Julian raised his palms defensively, his cheeks flushing with pink. “Better to pine silently, huh, Pasha?” He got back at her, making her blush a bit in turn.  
“Shut up, Ilya,” she rolled her eyes and punched his arm. Pepi appeared under the table and started meowing, so Portia made room on her lap. She immediately used the opportunity to jump there and, with a couple circles, cosied to a nap.  
“Okay, but back to the watermelon-,”  
“Ilya, for the sake of all the Arcana,” Asra laughed. “It’s disgusting and it tastes like nothing!”  
“It’s delicious though!” The doctor exclaimed. “I don’t get why you don’t like it, it’s perfect!”  
“It tastes like it should be savoury but someone just sprinkled in a vague amount of fructose and called it a day,” Asra said, shaking his head. “It’s just a cucumber but for degenerates,” he looked down at him.  
“Degenerates?” He repeated in disbelief and looked at Portia for help, but she, busy with nuzzling the cat, shook her head.  
“Jury’s out, although you do seem like a degenerate type.”  
“Pasha, you break my heart,” Julian sighed dramatically.  
“Well, gonna have to learn to live with it, I guess,” she shrugged, hiding her smile in Pepi’s fur.  
“I can’t believe you are all against me,” the doctor looked theatrically heartbroken. He put the outside of his palm to his forehead, sighing towards the fields. He took the plate with watermelon slices in his other hand and put it by his chest. “Am I really bound to this life of solitude? What hath I done to deserve such lonesome fate? Just me and- and these watermelons-,” he burst out with laughter, Portia and Asra soon accompanying him.  
They spent the rest of the evening chatting about the palace affairs and the gossip from the city. When the moon was about halfway through her stride on the sky, Asra and Julian helped Portia clean up after their little tea party. When the magician was occupied with cleaning the dishes (with Faust joyfully helping with her tail), Julian took Portia to the side by her arm.  
“Hey, I’m gonna need some cooking help tomorrow, can I count on you?” He asked, mischievous sparks in his eyes. Portia raised her eyebrows but nodded conspirationally.  
“Sure, I’ll let Hestion know you’re stopping by.”  
She gave them both goodbye kisses on the cheek and closed the door behind them, knowing her brother is going to do something outrageously stupid.  
***  
Asra went out of his shop to see the doctor with a huge basket smiling at him just a tad too enthusiastically.  
“You’re chipper today, Ilya,” Asra nudged him and started walking. Faust was hanging off his shoulders and headbutted Julian as a greeting. _Date!_ She smiled as happily as a snake can.  
“Well, we’re making a picnic, it’s a happy occasion!” He followed the magician, who didn’t pry but had a feeling there was something more behind the man’s expression. “So, where _are_ we going?”  
“There’s a place just outside Vesuvia,” Asra said. “It’s a great picnic spot, there’s a lake nearby and a lot of trees for Faust to explore.”  
_Hangs and swings!_  
“Oh, she does like to swing from stuff, doesn’t she?” Julian laughed, still eyeing the snake quite warily.  
“Yeah, she loves it,” Asra ran a thumb through her head and she leaned into the touch. Then she curled up her tail gently around Asra’s neck and brushed her head against his chin.  
They made their way to the spot and Asra lay down the blanket. He opened up his own basket and started taking out snacks. He stopped when he saw Julian wasn’t making any motion to unpack his own and just stared at him with a badly hidden grin.  
“…What’s going on?” Asra asked cautiously.  
“Why don’t you unpack it?” Julian suggested, motioning to his basket. At this point his grin was as wide as his face. Asra’s shoulders slumped.  
“If you brought the watermelon…” He reached for the basket and opened it. “I will tell Faust to squeeze the life out of you.”  
Faust, who was hanging from a nearby tree, jumped down, just at the doctor’s shoulders. He shrieked, as the snake settled comfortably there, moving her tail calmly. _Love a squeeze!_  
Asra took out a weirdly looking cake. He looked at Julian dubiously.  
“Ilya, what is this.”  
Julian was straining his entire being not to start laughing.  
“This, my dear Asra,” he started, his voice’s pitch getting a little bit out of control. “This is a watermelon cheesecake.”  
He started laughing into his own palm as Asra stared at him with an incredulous expression, taking in the news.  
“You mean to tell me this is- this is a watermelon-“  
“A watermelon _cheesecake_ , yes,” Julian said, trying to calm down.  
Asra stared at the cake without a word until Julian calmed his breath. Then he reached for the doctor’s shoulders, muttered a spell and picked the doctor up as if he didn’t weigh a thing.  
“Wha- what are you-!”  
Asra swiftly got on his feet and threw Julian into the lake.  
“I hate you, Ilya!” He shouted, making his way to the shore, now with amusement in his voice. “I hate everything you stand for!”  
His head appeared on the surface, red hair sticking to his forehead as he sputtered out the water and laughed.  
“Same!” He shouted back and made his way to the shore. “I guess I deserve the punishment.”  
“I haven’t even begun punishing you for this,” Asra rolled his eyes; just as he said it he realized how it sounded. A blush coloured his cheeks a little as Julian spit in laughter.  
“Okay,” he looked at him gleefully. “Can’t wait for the rest.”  
Asra pushed the man back to the water with a chuckle.  
“You should join me, the water’s great,” Julian looked at him temptingly. Asra hesitated and Julian splashed some water on him. Asra gasped and locked eyes with him.  
“That means war.”  
After they were done fighting and swimming, they came back to their blanket and laid down in the sun to dry their clothes. Faust slithered on the blanket and flicked her tongue by the cheesecake.  
_Ew_ , she said and went up the nearest tree. _Untasty._  
“Even Faust hates the cheesecake,” Asra said. “It’s an abomination.”  
“It’s even edible!” Julian said putting his arms up to cradle his head. “Literally I don’t understand you. It was an amazing idea.”  
“How did you even make it?” Asra asked, still gobsmacked by the cooking disaster.  
“Hestion helped,” Julian admitted. “He cried when making it but it was worth it.”  
“I’m not surprised he did,” Asra laughed, shaking his head. “I hate it with the entirety of my being.”  
“Thank you,” Julian, for some reason, sounded proud. Asra scoffed in his mind. Then he realized how comfortable and good he felt around Julian, how fun it was to spend the day with him… and it made him uncomfortable. He stared at the afternoon sky, not daring to look at the man beside him. He didn’t have to, though, he felt his aura strongly, he heard his breath right next to him. The proximity made him feel warm inside his soul, it felt like… like home. He had an urge to clasp his hand into his but he resisted it. Should he let himself get attached? Was it really safe? Muriel and MC were the only two people that he felt close to since his parents died. He was always careful with people, with how close they got, but Ilya… It was easy to get close to him. It was easy to be honest and upfront. He wanted to stop being careful with him, but that just made him more scared.  
Faust felt his worries and slithered down and onto his chest. He smiled at her.  
_Love a doctor?_ She tilted her head and Asra chuckled lightly. He liked Ilya and spending time with him, he did catch himself a couple times wanting something more… _Did_ he love him? What would that even mean for him?  
“What are you thinking about?” Julian asked, turning his head towards Asra. He shrugged, startled a bit.  
“Nothing in particular.”  
“I was thinking about leeches.” Julian brushed past what Asra said and launched into explaining what kind of leech he could buy in the Red Market this season.  
“Are leeches really that important?” Asra asked, positioning his head on his hand, so he could look down at the doctor.  
“They tend to be,” he said. “But I do, kind of… collect them, one might say that, I guess,” he laughed. “They’re interesting.”  
“Really?” Asra laughed too. He was not interested in any kind of leech whatsoever, but seeing Julian so excited and passionate… made his heart full. He could stare at his face for days, listening about leeches or some other medical nonsense.  
Julian started talking about why exactly leeches were so interesting and Asra was carefully studying his features. His grey eyes were darting from his face to the air, as he went on explaining, the sparkles of passion glistening in it. Asra bit the inside of his mouth. He was battling himself on an impulse, not sure whether he should follow on it.  
He decided not to, instead wait and see how the night would turn out. The sun started setting, but the city blocked out the view. Instead they got to see the moon rising up the sky.  
When the various shades of orange, pink and purple coloured the sky almost entirely, they ran out of snacks. Asra wouldn’t even look at the cheesecake, even though Julian made a great scene out of eating it, describing how much he was enjoying it.  
Soon, the sky darkened and the first stars lit up the sky. They laid down, head to head, looking up.  
“Do you know the constellations?” Asra asked Julian, who shook his head.  
“There’s more important stuff to learn in medical profession, I guess,” he said with a chuckle.  
“Here’s the Magician.” He reached out his hand to point at the stars. “Do you see that really bright star?”  
“Yeah.”  
“That’s one eye. And there, a bit to the right is the other.”  
“Oh, I see it! It’s a fox, just like on your cards!”  
Asra looked at Julian.  
“How do you know that?” He asked with surprise.  
Julian looked back at him and shrugged with a modest smile.  
“I’ve seen him once. And you always dress as a fox to the Masquerades. I connected the dots.”  
The magician sent him a fond look. Julian felt warm on his cheeks and laid back down to look at the sky.  
“Are there any others?”  
“Well, here’s the Devil, too. He has horns and holds a chain, do you see it?” He moved a bit to be closer to Julian’s perspective and reached his hand forward. Julian nodded.  
“He looks like Lucio,” he summarized and Asra burst out with laughter.  
“You do have a point. He had even painted himself as a goat.”  
Julian smelled Asra’s skin – herbs and a hint of vanilla – and was very aware of how their shoulders touched. He felt so happy just lying here with the magician right next to him, but there was an almost painful longing for something more. To feel the touch of his fingers on his face. To run his fingers through the white, soft hair. To look into those purple eyes for eternity. To feel the taste of his lips…  
He had to stop himself before his fantasizing took him too far. Julian didn’t know if Asra would want that kind of a relationship and he didn’t want to push. And he was scared of rejection. He didn’t think he’d be able to survive that kind of blow; he valued his friendship with him far too high. And yet this longing…  
Faust went through Asra’s chest to their hands laying in a small distance and slithered under them. Then she squeezed them together.  
_Squeeze!_ She flicked her tongue out and tilted her head at Asra, who stared at their hands. Julian automatically intertwined their fingers and looked at Asra with a blush and a smile.  
“If you’re not okay with-“ he started but Asra shook his head and interrupted him.  
“I’m more than okay, Ilya,” he whispered and Julian didn’t finish. They smiled at each other for some time; soon enough Julian pulled Asra into a one-armed hug and they looked at the stars in a friendly silence.


End file.
